Two decades of DBIA ...DBIADuring the week of April 29, 2013 DBIA's LinkedIn Group welcomed its 10,000th member. Matt Dahlberg, AIA, DBIA, LEED AP, founded the group in August of 2008, and DBIA staff assumed management of the group in April of 2010, when the group had about 1,000 members. As the DBIA LinkedIn group approached the 10K membership level, we gave Matt a heads-up that his baby was rapidly reaching a major milestone. Once we hit the magic number, we called Matt to share the news and talk about why he started the group.

Gov. Deval Patrick seeks $800 million for transportation improvements in MassachusettsThe RepublicanMassachusetts Gov. Deval L. Patrick said he will be working to assure that a final bill to increase the gas tax does provide about $800 million to finance transportation improvements. "We want to make sure that the numbers are real, that there actually is $805 million that will be available to invest in transportation," Patrick said at the Statehouse.

Davis: Design chosen for Shrem art museum (UC Davis)San Francisco ChronicleEven as high-profile museums in San Francisco and Berkeley begin taking shape, another architecturally ambitious cultural facility is planned for just outside the Bay Area. The location is UC Davis, where university officials selected the design team and concept for a museum to be built along Interstate 80 on the south edge of the 33,000-student campus.

NEW PROJECT TRACKER FROM GWIAWI Tracker is the number one project tracker for water & wastewater projects in North America. AWI Tracker aggregates capital improvement plans, categorizes their content then provides comprehensive search functions to find the opportunities most relevant to users. AWI Tracker currently contains >$220bn early stage capital projects and >$28bn of high interest projects.

Blog/opinion: Design-build — Are you scared yet?sys-tekThe popularity of Design/Build to deliver projects is on the increase. The concept is far from new but the approach this time around has been more effective and organized. Contractors are moving forward and are promoting the concept and now with federal, state and local governments using Design/Build it appears that this delivery method will continue grow in popularity.

EPA to award more than half billion to water, wastewater plants hit by Sandy (N.Y. and N.J.)Engineering News RecordThe U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced on May 2 that it would provide $569 million to New York and New Jersey for improvements to wastewater and drinking water facilities hit by Hurricane Sandy last year. The funds were appropriated in the post-Sandy spending bill, which was signed into law in January. The Sandy bill contained $600 million for improvements to treatment plants affected by the monster storm. With the sequester in place, the number was trimmed to $570 million.

DBIA Owner HotlineDBIA
As a feature of DBIA's commitment to making access to information easy, we are introducing our Owner Hotline. The Hotline will give public agencies and private owners quick, direct access to information on design-build project delivery. See the DBIA website for details.

Design-build: Doing more with existing resourcesEno Center for Transportation Passing legislation in Congress has never been an easy process, and the political partisanship that we have seen over the last decade made it even more painful and drawn out. Despite growing infrastructure needs, transportation funding has been flat for years; in the age of sequestration, decreases in funding are an unfortunate reality. Congress has not had the political will to either increase funding through traditional means or take a hard look at new alternative funding mechanisms.

Owner scholarship available for 2013 Federal SymposiumDBIADBIA is now accepting applications for the 2013 Federal Symposium Owner Scholarship Fund. Applicants are eligible to receive complimentary registration and/or partial travel costs to the 2013 DBIA/SAME Federal Project Delivery Symposium being held Aug. 20-22. All applications must be completed online by June 20.

Local Resources. Global Experience.We are a global contractor that operates with local resources. Our global project experience, financial strength and technical expertise combine with a local contractor’s community knowledge and insight to deliver for our customers. Get to know us. Take an interactive walk around our construction projects at www.samsungeca.com.

DBIA Re-launches Facebook and Twitter!DBIAOver the past month, DBIA has re-launched our efforts to engage members and the public on Facebook and Twitter. We have used both platforms to advertise new programs, remind members of deadlines, share breaking news and rally grassroots support for legislation. Our Facebook page is also full of photos from our events and of award-winning design-build projects. Our Twitter account is followed by owners, companies, industry groups and journalists who all see our tweets and retweets. To stay current with DBIA and design-build news, LIKE us on Facebook and Follow us on Twitter today!

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2013 Project Award Competition is openDBIAWe've streamlined the process to make it easier to complete entries and added a Team Performance section, so read the information for entering carefully. Projects must have been completed and occupied by the owner after March 31, 2010. Entries from outside the U.S. — both projects and firms — are welcome. The deadline for entering is May 21.

Two decades of DBIA ... David Shelton remembersDBIADavid M. Shelton is Senior Vice President at DesignSense Incorporated, a strategic acquisition planning and program management consulting firm located in Lenexa, Kansas. He is also a licensed architect and contractor, and a DBIA Designated Design-Build Professional.